Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-191) and index.

Introduction : The myth of the new history of education and the progress principle -- 1. Ideology and historical practice in early America. Puritans and planters -- From Puritan to Whig -- Histories of education in the revolutionary era -- 2. The Whig tradition. Whig revisionism -- From revision to tradition -- 3. Educational history as professional science. From Christendom to civilization -- National identity and global consciousness -- Educational historiography on the margins of civilization -- 4. Influence and contextualization in the twentieth century. Cubberley and the historical profession -- The forgotten collaboration between historians and schoolmen -- 5. Diversity and controversy in the twentieth century. Pioneers of black educational history -- The flowering of women's educational historiography -- The Whig interpretation under fire -- 6. Why Bailyn was right despite being wrong. Eggleston, Davidson, and the search for an alternative to Whiggism -- The death of progress and the end of educational history -- Bailyn in context -- A surprisingly limited legacy.